ly Dr, T. Sterry Hunt. 247 



The existence of liquid bitumen in the Corniferous limestone in 

 western Canada was pointed out as long ago as 1844 by Mr. 

 Murray, who tells us that this rock is generally bituminous, and 

 that cavities in it are often filled with petroleum ; the quarries 

 near Gravelly Bay in "Wainfleet are cited as an example, (Report 

 of Geol. Survey, 1846, p. 87). In the Report for 1850 we find a 

 notice of what are called oil springs, in which petroleum rises to 

 the surface of the water near the rio-ht bank of the Thames in 

 Mosa, and in two places on Bear Creek in Enniskillen. Subse- 

 quently Mr. Murray described a considerable deposit of solid bitu- 

 men or mineral tar, which occurs in the same township, extending 

 over about half an acre, and in some places two feet in thickness, 

 doubtless formed by the drying-up of petroleum springs (Report 

 for 1851, p. 90.) I had already in the Report for 1849, p. 99, 

 described this bitumen from specimens in the Museum of the 

 Geological Survey, and called attention to its economic applica- 

 tions, remarking that " the consumption of this material in Eng- 

 land and on the continent for the construction of pavements, for 

 paying the bottoms of ships, and for the manufacture of illum- 

 inating gas is such that the existence of these deposits in the 

 country is a matter of considerable importance." At this time 

 solid bitumen was thus employed, but in the liquid form of petro- 

 leum its use was chiefly confined in Europe to medicinal purposes.. 

 Under the names of Seneca oil and Barbadoes tar it had long been 

 known and employed medicinally by the native tribes of America.. 

 Its use for burning, as a source of light or heat, in modern times has 

 been chiefly confined to Persia and other parts of Asia, although in 

 former ages the wells of the island of Zante described by Herod 

 otus furnished large quantities of it to the Grecian Archipelago, 

 and Pliny and Dioscorides describe the petroleum of Agrigentum in 

 Sicily, which was used in lamps under the name of Sicilian oil. 

 The value of the naphtha annually obtained from the springs at 

 Bakoum in Persia on the Caspian sea was some years since esti- 

 mated by Abich at about 600,000 dollars, and the petroleum wells 

 of Rangoon in Burmah are said to furnish not less than 400,000 

 hogsheads yearly. In the last century the petroleum or naphtha 

 obtained from springs in the Duchy of Parma was employed for 

 lighting the streets of Genoa and Amiano. But the thickness, 

 coarseness and unpleasant odor of the petroleum from most 

 sources were such that it had long fallen into disuse in Europe, 

 when in 184'7, the attention of Mr. Young, a manufacturing 



